Top 3 Exercises to Get Financially Fit
Getting financially fit doesn’t happen overnight. You’ve spent years (if not decades) creating your current spending habits and money mindset. Those thoughts and habits become ingrained in your behavior—both consciously and unconsciously—and make it hard to change. Luckily, there are ways to break out of your current patterns; doing some “financial exercises” can open you up to new ways of thinking about your money and set you on a better path. Here are three of our favorite financial exercises to try:
Needs, Wants, Wastes
Review your spending from the last three to four months and try to place every dollar spent into one of these categories. If you have everything listed as a need, then you should go back and look at each item more objectively or ask for help in categorizing everything. Look at your wastes and add them up. How much could you have saved in three to four months if you had avoided wastes? Are there wants or wastes that can be eliminated or adjusted?
No-Spend Days
Another way to prevent yourself from having a spending issue is to commit to achieving a certain number of no-spend days a month. During a no-spend day, you literally will plan to not use your cash or debit and credit cards for an entire day. It is a best practice to plan one of these a week, and an easy way to accomplish this exercise is just to take your driver’s license out with you and leave the rest of your wallet home for the day. While you are practicing a no-spend day, make sure you reflect on where you would have spent money if you could have spent money. This is another great way for you to identify problem areas in your spending life.
Cash-Only Days
Similar to no-spend days, it is a best practice to have at least one cash-only day a week. The set amount of cash you allow yourself to spend during the day should be a difficult goal for you, and for most clients this number is usually around $20. Think of cash-only days like “push days” when you are working out at the gym. Maybe you can easily run two miles at a time, but on a push day, you make yourself run three. Maybe you normally spend $40 a day on various items, so push yourself once a week to only spend $20.
Ready to take your finances to the next level?
To get started, schedule a free 20-minute consultation call to speak to a member of our team. We will ask you a few basic questions to get to know you more, walk you through our financial training program steps, and answer any questions you may have. No pressure to join! Need advice quickly? Talk to one of our Trainers on Demand.